Jiening Upcoming Title: Interview

 

1. WHAT WAS THE FIRST GAME THAT YOU'VE PLAYED THAT MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH GAMING?

I believe it was Pokémon sapphire on a hand me down Gameboy color from my older cousin, I remember taking it with me wherever I go and squeezing in a bit of playtime wherever and whenever I can, though I do believe I never really got any good at it and it took me months to beat the game.

2. HOW DID YOU GET INTO GAME DEVELOPMENT?

Well I have always been interesting in gaming and games that allow creativity, and when I was choosing a major for college, I was worried as I didn’t like the idea of sitting through college for year on lectures I had no interest in, but then I noticed that game design was an option and it became the lesser of all evil for me, but once I started courses on it in Columbia College Chicago I really started developing an interest.

3. ARE YOU CURRENTLY A SOLO DEV OR DO YOU HAVE A STUDIO YOU'VE ESTABLISHED?

I am currently developing solo with the help of another friend, but as the project grows, if all things go well, I may bring in more friends and people to help and perhaps establish a studio.

4. WE KNOW THIS GAME IS UNDER EARLY DEVELOPMENT WHAT WOULD YOU NAME THIS GAME?

Well the very first name for the game was “Live Another Day” as I wanted to have a post-apocalyptical world where the story doesn’t revolve around how you save the world but rather just how you live in it, yet as the game developed, it shifted away from this survival and pessimistic sounding name and I very much intend on coming up with a new name for the game, but as of now it remains unnamed.

5. WHERE DOES THIS GAME TAKES PLACE?

The game takes place on a faraway desert planet known as Arkus IV, a scouted habitable planet by people back on earth, where after some events and conflict, a majority of the population has passed due to climate devastation, resulting in a planet of sand inhabited by the remaining survivors gathered into groups that survive together.

 

6. WHO IS THE PROTAGONIST IN THE GAME?

       The protagonist or player is a rookie mech pilot at the start of the game, working in one of the mercenary clans. As a mercenary pilot, they have their own mech and will complete missions for pay, and as part of the clan, the player will also meet other pilots and characters.

7. HOW MUCH CUSTOMIZATION IS IN THE GAME AND WHAT TYPES OF MECHS YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE?

       As with games like Armored core or Daemon x machine, the base mech is customizable in parts, for my game you can choose parts for head, torso, arms, legs and backpack, you can mix and match between different mech models for the different stats that each part offers. On top of the base mech, each mech carries a main hand weapon/gear in each hand, a shoulder EXG gear on each shoulder and 4 Side EXG gears on the arms and legs, however based on your selection of base body parts, these options may be limited. There are also further customization options planned like a custom color scheme, custom UI elements and perhaps even custom ammo for certain weapons, but those are just planned possibilities for now.

8. LET'S TALK GAMEPLAY SO WHAT TYPE OF GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS CAN WE EXPECT WHEN IT COMES TO THE MECH YOU CUSTOMIZE?

       Well, as customization is a large part of the game, they ought to have a big impact on the combat gameplay, depending on parts you use for your mech, various stats of the mech could be effected, such as weight, speed, health, energy, and of course what weapons you choose to equip and use will massively effect how you play and at what range do you engage the enemy. The goal is to give the players the freedom to play how they wish, whether it be a bulky, tanky mech with a whole arsenal of different weapons or a light, fast mech that can zip in between enemies and do hit-and-runs.

9. WHAT WAS THE DECISION TO MAKE THE GAMEPLAY IN THIRD PERSON?

       Well most mech game of this type all seem to have their combat gameplay set in third person, so In some ways I guess I didn’t give it much thought, though my personally explanation would be that a third person perspective slows down the action a bit and allows for more strategic thinking to take effect rather than pure reflex driven gameplay. Also if you spent all the time and effort in building a mech tailored to you, would you not want to see it in action as you fight? XD

10.  DOES THE GAME GO BY LEVELS OR IS IT OPEN WORLD AND WHY?

The game is structured in levels, I do believe that for a narrative driven game, this structure can provide a better mode to tell the story, and personally I’m not too experienced with open world and I wanted to make sure I didn’t bite off more than I could chew.

11.ON THE ENGINE SIDE WHAT ENGINE ARE YOU USING TO CREATE THIS GAME AND WHY?

The game is created on the Unity 3D engine, I chose this as it was the engine that I had the most experience with and felt most comfortable and confident working in. I find ideas come to me much easier when working in the engine that I feel good in.

12. WHY SHOULD PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME DAY?

       As someone who is very into mech games that allow heavy customization, over the years there has not been much release of game that fit the type, from waiting for the next armor core game to be released to finally seeing a spiritual successor in Daemon X Machina, mech lovers have patiently waited for the next game of this type, including me, so I believe my game can not only satisfy the longing for customization but also to see that customization in action.

13. WHEN WILL THIS GAME RELEASE AND WHAT PLATFORMS WILL IT BE ON?

       We are talking over future plans for the game, most likely we will be launching a kickstarter for the game sometime within this year to generate funding, and if that’s successful we plan a launch on PC on Steam sometime next year, however depending on public response, we may consider other platforms too.

14. WHERE CAN THEY FIND YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

       I post updates on the game on my Twitter @Jiening13, if you wanna keep up to date on how the game is doing, or if you just enjoy cat memes you can follow me on twitter. XD